


Shadows

by Puimoo



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-24
Updated: 2012-03-24
Packaged: 2017-11-02 11:01:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/368260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puimoo/pseuds/Puimoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matoba isn't prepared to give up just because someone else has claimed his prize.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [snarkydame](https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarkydame/gifts).



> A quick, last minute treat!

They came most nights Kaname and Natsume spent together, sliding beneath the door and moving in jerked, puppet-like movements. So subtle now that the first signs always came from Natsume, who slipped from a restless sleep into something more turbulent, a grim tension settling across his features. The first time Kaname had noticed he'd thought Natsume was gripped deep in some nightmare, and there was so many things that haunted him. Kaname couldn't have guessed which demon (human or otherwise) had captured his sleep.

It was only on the second occasion that Kaname had noticed the shadows, and the third before he realised whom they slavishly worked for. 

The dreams were back now, marring Natsume's face in creases and grimaces that made Kaname flinch. He clumsily tried to run his hand gently across Natsume's furrowed forehead, however Natsume jerked away from his touch, as though it was something painful, unwanted.

Invasive.

Kaname's mouth set in a firm line. Natsume never spoke of the dreams themselves, his haunted, shuttered gaze was always enough. A barrier slammed down between them whenever the topic came up, and a desperateness would slip into Natsume's voice when he tried so clunkily to change the topic.

Which was fine. Natsume had his own ways of dealing with things, as did Kaname. 

And the shadows were there, stretching towards them and eager to devour their prey.

Kaname was learning.

"Stay away from him," Kaname said coldly as the strips of shadow flickered closer, sliding across the wooden floor boards like a deep acid that was visible only be the deep scars it left behind. He sat upright on his futon, their presence already given away by Natsume's uneasy tossing and turning.

They don't hesitate in their lazy advance, but this time Kaname's words weren't carried simply on his usual empty threats.

"Stay away." 

He clumsily flipped the slip of paper around his fingers before slamming it against the floor, the impact sending vibrations rippling through the boards and making the shadows curl unexpectedly.

It wasn't just an order, but a challenge, one that Kaname issued on fire. 

"Not when he is awake, not in his dreams." The next charm held more authority, more intent.

The shadows buckled angrily, raising up from the floorboards like hissing snakes being driven back by an intense, invisible smoke.

"Never."

The next charm thundered through the small room, amplified by the natural power engrained in the wood, and the shadows scuttled backwards, tripping over each other in desperate retreat. Kaname thought he could hear their shrill, outraged screams as the pooled together, swirling around the feet of a figure that was as real as the ripples on Kaname's ceiling, but just as unreachable. In the darkness, all Kaname was allowed was a brief, after-image of a sharp smirk.

He slammed the last charm down, his gaze never wavering from the shadows, the after image, these new ripples that he would disperse forever once he found the means.

Like rain, they all evaporated, whisked away by their creator in shame and defeat. Kaname slouched back on his hands, not sure if he was exhausted out of relief or fear. His arms could barely hold him up, the tremors running up them stealing him of all the strength he'd somehow possessed mere moments ago. The depleted collection of his father's charms that had seemed so powerful now resembled just a pile of crinkled paper. Had he really-

A quiet moan snapped his attention back down to Natsume, whose sleepy eyes cracked open and somehow found Kaname.

"Tanuma, you should be asleep." At least, that was what Kaname felt Natsume said, given that half the words were slurred on a yawn. "We have a test tomorrow, and the festival to prepare for after that."

Given that Natsume was still mostly asleep and had been dragged from his nightmares, it was a rather decent effort at coherency. The test had been last week and the festival had concluded only hours before. At least it was such innocent thoughts of school that directed Natsume, and not memories of a man who sought to consume him even in his dreams.

Tests and festivals. Right now, Kaname couldn't think of anything that sounded more foreign. Surely such naïve things only took place in worlds where exorcists and their demons couldn't exist. His gaze flicked thoughtfully down to Natsume. Was that how Natsume often saw Kaname's world? 

"I don't think I'm going to pass, anyway," Kaname replied easily, before relaxing back down into his blankets again. Their futons were so close that Kaname could feel how relaxed Natsume had grown since the shadows retreat, as blurry as his eyes remained. For the first time, Kaname felt as though he could breath again.

He just, he had to make sure ...

Kaname bit down hesitatingly on his bottom lip before extending his hand out towards Natsume. Sometimes, after the shadows had come and gone, rippling through Natsume and shredding their way through all his barriers, Natsume curled away from even the most platonic of gestures, seeing everything through clouds of suspicion. 

Natsume just blinked at him, before linking his fingers with Kaname's shyly and drifting back into a dreamless, empty sleep. Kaname held onto those fingers gently, before drawing them in against his palm and holding them close.

The shadows didn't return that night, and Natsume slept through to the morning. It was only when dawn creaked through the window that Kaname dared do the same.


End file.
